This invention relates in general to wire identification devices and in particular to portable, self-contained apparata suitable for use in quickly identifying wire ends at the exposed ends of a larger cable or conduit.
In various electrical assembly and repair or trouble-shooting circumstances, it may be desirable, if not absolutely necessary, to select one wire of a cable and thereafter be able to quickly locate the opposite end of that same wire. One means to achieve this objective is to couple the selected wire end to a circuit and then arrange the unidentified wire ends of the larger conduit into a portion of the same circuit which sequentially checks each wire until the circuit is closed. Indicator means, such as a light, signifies when the correct wire end has been located by this sequential checking.
While the above represents a very general concept or function, the structures presently available to achieve this desired result each include aspects which make the device either awkward to use, time consuming, expensive to construct, or of questionable reliability. Further, many devices are extremely complicated because their intended use and function involve a great deal more than simply continuity testing. Listed below are patents which disclose structures generally relating to the above function. While each disclosed device is arguably relevant, none are believed anticipatory of the invention disclosed hereinafter.
______________________________________ Pat. No. Patentee Issue Date ______________________________________ 1,738,710 Jones 12/10/29 3,470,467 Cammer et al. 9/30/69 3,867,692 Esch 2/18/75 3,609,538 Schag 9/28/71 3,440,531 Jasorka et al. 4/22/69 ______________________________________
Jones discloses a method for identifying cabled wires which are attached to the terminals of a multiple-connection device. The associated structure involves a circuit box having a socket receptacle wired into parallel circuits with a separate light for each circuit and a battery for providing the necessary power. The cable to be identified is plugged into the receptacle and the loose wire ends are connected to one side of the battery in a sequential manner. When a particular light illuminates, it indicates that the selected wire corresponds to that light which in turn corresponds to a particular pin of the socket receptacle. The disadvantages with this type of device are that a plug and socket receptacle are required and size limitation controls the number of wires that can be tested. Further, since each light circuit is a single parallel system, one light is required for each wire to be tested and thus with large bundles of wires, the number of lights becomes excessive as well as the space and cost. In many applications, the number of wires will vary and thus, a different-style plug and receptacle are needed. This limitation makes the device very limited in scope.
Cammer et al. discloses a pin intersection verification system which responds to a repeated occurrence of a predetermined voltage on one of the pins. The circuitry involved in this device is somewhat complicated in that data derived signals are applied to a pin location display panel and to addressing circuits. Registers are employed in which wiring data from punched tape is stored. This type of device is intended primarily for wire wrap panels and is not believed to be overly relevant to the present invention.
Esch discloses a cable conductor identification apparatus which includes an electrical power source sequentially connected to each one of a predetermined number of conductors in a cable at a first terminal end. Also enclosed is a readout device connectable to any selected one of the conductors at a second terminal end. A sequentially pulsed diode matrix provides a discrete number of pulses at each of a predetermined number of terminals that are each connected to a respective conductor of the cable. The primary disadvantage with this type of device is the complexity and the number of steps that must be performed in order to properly check out or identify the wires of the conduit. One such tedious or time-consuming step is the identification of conductor 26 and the specification of this patent indicates that identification of conductor 26 is most conveniently performed by trial and error. Since the identification of conductor 26 is the initial step in testing out the entire cable, this requirement alone is believed to make this apparatus unsuitable for easy and efficient wire identification.
Schag discloses a wire detector device for determining the designation of a wire in a random bundle of wires which are connected at a first end to a group of designatory points. The detector includes connection means between the group of designatory points and a display device and a probe for contacting the second end of a wire in the bundle which is coupled to the display device to complete a circuit through the selected wire thereby causing the display device to indicate the designation. Again, this type of device is somewhat complicated, both mechanically as well as electrically, and includes a number of components and required connections and specific types of connection means which do not result in a very convenient or universal type of system which is easily adapted to almost any testing or wiring situation.
Jasorka et al. discloses a surface wiring assist device including a frame which supports a row of lamps and an electrical device having terminals extending from one side thereof. Each terminal is associated with a different one of the lamps in the row of lamps. The device is intended to supply visual information for assisting in the selection of terminals which are to be wired. Again, the complexity, both mechanical and electrical, is overwhelming, and while various unique capabilities may be afforded, this is not believed to be the ideal type of system for merely identification of the wires of a conduit.
None of the devices disclosed by the above listed patents provide a quick connect/disconnect device which is arranged into a diode grid matrix for rapid determination of wire identification. Not one of the disclosed systems enables the quick connection of all wires at one end of the conduit and then a rapid sequential check on a one-by-one basis of the wires at the opposite end of the conduit. The systems disclosed either involve a fairly specific utilization such as for wire wrap panels or have become so complicated by the additional capabilities desired, such as for example, numerical identification of the wires that system ease and simplicity has been lost. It would thus be an improvement to provide a wire identification device which could be used for quickly connecting to and testing the wires of a conduit and which would be suitable for a wide variety of conduits and wires and for utilization with a number of different systems. The invention disclosed herein provides such an improved device as will be apparent from the following description.